WARNING! Barnyard words are part of the content of this entry. No cows were hurt in the writing of this blog.
I know! You're shocked. I'm blogging at 12:30 pm. How can this be? Does my employer know I'm doing this? Of course not! I'm not at work. I'm laying in bed listening to an air conditioner that sounds like it's gasping for it's last breath running in my left ear...which hurts by the way...my ear, that is. I don't know how the air conditioner feels.
I hate being sick. It stinks! I try to be optimistic and believe that I will get over this but after 7 days, two of which involved antibiotics, I still feel crappy. I know that's a barn word but you'll have to deal with it. When my husband says to me "how do you feel," is it whining to say I have a fever, my head hurts, my ears hurt, my throat feels like I swallow a knife every time I swallow, I can't talk louder than a whisper, my lungs are full of junk that I cough up as infrequently as possible because that exasperates my throat issue AND gives me terrible back spasms that make me yell in pain and take my breath away? Well it's more like a silent scream because no sound comes out of my mouth! Just a few squeaks at most. Probably, so I just tell him that I feel like crap. As a former dairy farmer, which is equivalent in weightiness of definition to being a "former Marine," he gets it. Please I mean no disrespect to our brave men in uniform, but once a dairy farmer, always a dairy farmer. Moo-rah!
The front of my last dose of Tylenol does allow me an hour or two of feeling like part of the human race, and if you're wondering, I just took some about 30 minutes ago which is why this blog is not just a bunch of monster-ish scibble. Or maybe it is, who knows?
I tried to leave a message on RespectsEX call off, which is what my phone at work calls the call off voice mail but my co-workers probably think I was some pervert breathing heavy and whispering things in the phone. I guess when I don't show up, they will figure out that something is wrong.
I was planning to return to work on Thursday because the PA told me to take at least two days to rest, but then I realized that some PAs have no clue about what they are doing. The advice the last one gave my husband almost killed him because she got the definitions of hiatal hernia-where is his stomach in that x-ray? and constipation confused and her prescription upping his Omeprazole didn't do any good, even after he told her 35 times that he didn't have heartburn. So I'm sitting here debating whether I need to see a doctor or not. I'm taking some hard hitting antibiotic which requires me to double up on my probiotic and to eat more yogurt than even a yogurt lover could eat in a day.
I'm keeping my husband from precious sleep every night because I have to set my alarm to take the medication until I can dial it back a little each dose to a doable hour. I'm sure that the jerking and screams/squeaks from the back spasms aren't helping his REM cycles either.
The antibiotic fact sheet reads like a tv commercial in print and gives me so much confidence when I pop their cow-pill-sized goodness into my mouth. It's like swallowing a Mighty Bean!
The Common side effects, as if I'm not dealing with enough already are:
abdominal discomfort,
bloating,
diarrhea,
gas,
headache,
heartburn,
nausea, and
vomiting.
Other important side effects include:
bloody or prolonged diarrhea,
easy bruising or bleeding,
reversible hepatitis,
rash, and
allergic reactions.
By the way, I can have trouble up to a year after stopping the medication. The gift that keeps on giving, I'd say.
Now here's the exciting part-
Serious but rare reactions include seizures, severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), and low platelet or red blood cell count. Antibiotics can alter the normal bacteria in the colon and encourage overgrowth of some bacteria such as Clostridium difficile which causes inflammation of the colon (pseudomembranous colitis). Patients who develop signs of pseudomembranous colitis after starting Augmentin (diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and possibly shock) should contact their physician immediately. Persons who are allergic to the cephalosporin class of antibiotics, which are related to the penicillins, for example, cefaclor (Ceclor), cephalexin (Keflex), and cefprozil (Cefzil), may or may not be allergic to penicillins.
What if I have a fever already when I start taking it? How do I know what's causing the fever? So we are killing bacteria to make room for bigger and better ones? Can I even call a doctor if I'm in shock? Not according to most TV shows I've watched. Usually when they yell "he's going into shock," the patient is already unconscious so I don't think that the suggestion that this medication is going to make me better is helping my stress levels all that much. I turned down the steroid that she suggested because I never want to put those things in my body. To be truthful I don't even want to put what I'm taking now into my body-except for the yogurt and the vanilla bean frappaccinos that my daughter brings me from Starbucks every day. I guess it's necessary for now. And just let me say that those frapappacinos work better than Succrets at numbing your throat. (Just trying to supply a tastier option if you're looking for one). And I want the world to know that my daughter is a dear to bring them to me since she doesn't drive and walks, in this heat, all the way to Barnes and Noble just to get them for me because they give me an hour of much needed relief.
Now most of you that know me know that I am no sissy when it comes to sickness or injuries. Most of the time I just power through. This caught me quite off guard. The fever took me right out. I'm still questioning the diagnosis. Can you have a sinus infection without your nose ever getting stuffy? Without sneezing involved? I don't know. I'll have to Google it after my next nap, which I need, by the way.
I could go into the ramifications of having some of my symptoms, being an older woman and all, but I guess that your understanding of them DEPENDS on your understanding of being a woman over 50 who had 4 bladder battering monster children but we'll leave that for another day...or not.
Wish me happy napping!
I know! You're shocked. I'm blogging at 12:30 pm. How can this be? Does my employer know I'm doing this? Of course not! I'm not at work. I'm laying in bed listening to an air conditioner that sounds like it's gasping for it's last breath running in my left ear...which hurts by the way...my ear, that is. I don't know how the air conditioner feels.
I hate being sick. It stinks! I try to be optimistic and believe that I will get over this but after 7 days, two of which involved antibiotics, I still feel crappy. I know that's a barn word but you'll have to deal with it. When my husband says to me "how do you feel," is it whining to say I have a fever, my head hurts, my ears hurt, my throat feels like I swallow a knife every time I swallow, I can't talk louder than a whisper, my lungs are full of junk that I cough up as infrequently as possible because that exasperates my throat issue AND gives me terrible back spasms that make me yell in pain and take my breath away? Well it's more like a silent scream because no sound comes out of my mouth! Just a few squeaks at most. Probably, so I just tell him that I feel like crap. As a former dairy farmer, which is equivalent in weightiness of definition to being a "former Marine," he gets it. Please I mean no disrespect to our brave men in uniform, but once a dairy farmer, always a dairy farmer. Moo-rah!
The front of my last dose of Tylenol does allow me an hour or two of feeling like part of the human race, and if you're wondering, I just took some about 30 minutes ago which is why this blog is not just a bunch of monster-ish scibble. Or maybe it is, who knows?
I tried to leave a message on RespectsEX call off, which is what my phone at work calls the call off voice mail but my co-workers probably think I was some pervert breathing heavy and whispering things in the phone. I guess when I don't show up, they will figure out that something is wrong.
I was planning to return to work on Thursday because the PA told me to take at least two days to rest, but then I realized that some PAs have no clue about what they are doing. The advice the last one gave my husband almost killed him because she got the definitions of hiatal hernia-where is his stomach in that x-ray? and constipation confused and her prescription upping his Omeprazole didn't do any good, even after he told her 35 times that he didn't have heartburn. So I'm sitting here debating whether I need to see a doctor or not. I'm taking some hard hitting antibiotic which requires me to double up on my probiotic and to eat more yogurt than even a yogurt lover could eat in a day.
I'm keeping my husband from precious sleep every night because I have to set my alarm to take the medication until I can dial it back a little each dose to a doable hour. I'm sure that the jerking and screams/squeaks from the back spasms aren't helping his REM cycles either.
The antibiotic fact sheet reads like a tv commercial in print and gives me so much confidence when I pop their cow-pill-sized goodness into my mouth. It's like swallowing a Mighty Bean!
The Common side effects, as if I'm not dealing with enough already are:
abdominal discomfort,
bloating,
diarrhea,
gas,
headache,
heartburn,
nausea, and
vomiting.
Other important side effects include:
bloody or prolonged diarrhea,
easy bruising or bleeding,
reversible hepatitis,
rash, and
allergic reactions.
By the way, I can have trouble up to a year after stopping the medication. The gift that keeps on giving, I'd say.
Now here's the exciting part-
Serious but rare reactions include seizures, severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), and low platelet or red blood cell count. Antibiotics can alter the normal bacteria in the colon and encourage overgrowth of some bacteria such as Clostridium difficile which causes inflammation of the colon (pseudomembranous colitis). Patients who develop signs of pseudomembranous colitis after starting Augmentin (diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and possibly shock) should contact their physician immediately. Persons who are allergic to the cephalosporin class of antibiotics, which are related to the penicillins, for example, cefaclor (Ceclor), cephalexin (Keflex), and cefprozil (Cefzil), may or may not be allergic to penicillins.
What if I have a fever already when I start taking it? How do I know what's causing the fever? So we are killing bacteria to make room for bigger and better ones? Can I even call a doctor if I'm in shock? Not according to most TV shows I've watched. Usually when they yell "he's going into shock," the patient is already unconscious so I don't think that the suggestion that this medication is going to make me better is helping my stress levels all that much. I turned down the steroid that she suggested because I never want to put those things in my body. To be truthful I don't even want to put what I'm taking now into my body-except for the yogurt and the vanilla bean frappaccinos that my daughter brings me from Starbucks every day. I guess it's necessary for now. And just let me say that those frapappacinos work better than Succrets at numbing your throat. (Just trying to supply a tastier option if you're looking for one). And I want the world to know that my daughter is a dear to bring them to me since she doesn't drive and walks, in this heat, all the way to Barnes and Noble just to get them for me because they give me an hour of much needed relief.
Now most of you that know me know that I am no sissy when it comes to sickness or injuries. Most of the time I just power through. This caught me quite off guard. The fever took me right out. I'm still questioning the diagnosis. Can you have a sinus infection without your nose ever getting stuffy? Without sneezing involved? I don't know. I'll have to Google it after my next nap, which I need, by the way.
I could go into the ramifications of having some of my symptoms, being an older woman and all, but I guess that your understanding of them DEPENDS on your understanding of being a woman over 50 who had 4 bladder battering monster children but we'll leave that for another day...or not.
Wish me happy napping!
RSS Feed
